ANGER MANAGES BOX OFFICE WIN

Anger Management opened in the No. 1 spot with a whopping $44.5 million box office in its debut weekend.

The Adam Sandler and Jack Nicholson comedy revived the box office after four straight slumping weekends as the top 12 movies took in $86.9 million, up 6% from the same weekend last year.

Anger Management grossed more than the rest of the top 12 combined. Last weekend's No. 1, Phone Booth, fell to second place with $7.5 million.

Playing in 3,551 theaters, Anger Management averaged an impressive $12,532 a cinema. The weekend's other main new release, Rob Zombie's gory horror tale House of 1,000 Corpses, was No. 7 with $3.4 million in 595 theaters, for a $5,714 average.

Anger Management had the highest gross ever for a movie opening in April, beating the previous record of $36.1 million set by last year's The Scorpion King.

Audiences have gobbled up comedies this year, possibly because they are looking for escape from news about the Iraq war. The $100 million hit Bringing Down the House was No. 1 for three straight weekends, and Head of State debuted at the top of the box office.

In limited release, MTV Films’ low-budget acquisition Better Luck Tomorrow had a huge first weekend, grossing $398,489 in just 13 theaters for an average of $30,653.